Sunday, May 20, 2012

That's right: you thought we had medical marijuana in Delaware. But not really.

According to today's WNJ, even the doctors who believe in the efficacy of the drug to manage chronic pain are unwilling to prescribe it:

Dr. Alan Gonzalez-Cota, a pain management specialist in Dover, said he’s concerned about how his patients’ use of marijuana could affect his federal license to prescribe narcotics.

“The problem is that the physicians that prescribe narcotics are regulated by the [Drug Enforcement Administration ],” he said. “I tell my patients I don’t want to lose my license.

And even if they do find the guts to put pen to paper, their patients have no place to acquire it, thanks to President Barack Obama's ridiculous drug war:

In the last year, the federal government has cracked down on state-sanctioned medical marijuana distribution networks in other states where medical marijuana is legal, including California and Colorado.

Implementation of Delaware’s law, which envisioned state-regulated dispensaries in each county, was stopped in its tracks earlier this year when U.S. District Attorney Charles M. Oberly III informed Gov. Jack Markell that the Department of Justice could and would prosecute state workers who participate in the distribution system.

Oberly maintained the federal government’s stance on not pursuing criminal cases against patients who use medical marijuana.

That has left most doctors conflicted about approving a patient’s use of marijuana, then sending that patient out on the streets to obtain the drug.

“Your patient can use it, you can recommend it, but they have to obtain it illegally on the street corner from a dangerous person,” Depietropaolo said. “To me, that is not a solution.”

So for Diane Jump and other pain sufferers, there are currently only three options:

1. Do without.

2. Purchase your marijuana illegally and live with the fear of being dragged off to jail.

OR

3. Cast a vote for Governor Gary Johnson in the 2012 Presidential Election.

Yeah, I know he's a Libertarian and nobody thinks he can win, and maybe he can't. But thousands and even millions of votes for the former Governor of New Mexico would send a clear message to Washington DC: We want the drug war stopped NOW.

This year, vote for principle. Vote for the only candidate who will speak up for the cancer patients who can't speak up for themselves.